El Garnacho seals Manchester United's win at Southampton after Onana's penalty save | Premier League

Finally, Erik ten Hag was able to enjoy a game without the nagging sense of danger that had been lurking around him. Manchester United So far this season. Four games at Ten Hag had given them a troubled image and they had gone on the back foot, but after an awkward opening half-hour, well-taken goals from Matthijs De Ligt and Marcus Rashford allowed United to take charge with rare ease. Alejandro Garnacho completed the scoring in style, slotting United's third goal into the roof of the net in the 96th minute.

Southampton failed to fire from the moment Cameron Archer's rebound from a saved penalty in the 33rd minute ended up on the gloves of André Onana and, to make matters worse for the Saints, their captain, Jack Stephens, was shown a straight red for a foul on Garnacho. Aside from Noussair Mazraoui being forced off the pitch with an injury and others suffering from cramp, it was a near-perfect day for Ten Hag, who introduced Manuel Ugarte at the last moment for his United debut. On this occasion, the boos that followed the game were not directed at the manager.

Rashford's speculative goal on the hour mark, with United leading 2-0, summed up how quickly the mood changed. He touched the ball to steady himself and then, with a flick of his right boot, unleashed a powerful shot towards the top corner, but Aaron Ramsdale deflected it over.

That United needed a penalty saved by Onana to inspire them to victory against a team who had yet to pick up a point since promotion is perhaps indicative of their peculiar and confusing situation. But eight minutes later United were 2-0 up and from that point on there was no turning back for a Southampton side who had given the visitors an uncomfortable ride for the first half-hour. Until De Ligt headed United ahead, the team were sloppy. Their captain, Bruno Fernandes, displayed his usual seemingly questionable body language and De Ligt, fresh from a nightmare international break with Holland, found himself putting out fires in defence. Amad Diallo livened up the hosts with a couple of clumsy passes.

For the same reason that Southampton fans booed Russell Martin's decision to take off Tyler Dibling after 63 minutes of his opening game, Premier League The start may indicate they are struggling, and the Southampton manager was keeping an eye on the frequency. “Tyler had a cramp,” Martin said. “I didn’t want to take him off either, but he was struggling.”

Dibling was replaced by one-time academy youngster Adam Lallana as part of a quadruple substitution but Martin’s side struggled to regain momentum. The 18-year-old is the latest gem of the academy and as Saints supporters headed home, Dibling was the overwhelming redeeming light of a fourth successive league defeat. He forced an excellent early save from Onana after sliding in on Diogo Dalot and later gave away the penalty.

Dibling paused, checked Dalot and then pressed play, and the teenager quickly passed to the United left-back. In his desperate attempt to track him down, the defender tangled with Dibling on the edge of the area and Stuart Attwell pointed to the penalty spot. A couple of minutes later Archer stepped up to take the penalty but Onana saved a weak low shot to his right. The ball came back to Archer but his header lacked conviction and trickled into the United goalkeeper’s gloves.

Then the United fans chanted the name of Ruud van Nistelrooy, now Ten Hag's team-mate, and all was well. Joshua Zirkzee saw a shot deflected off Ramsdale's fingertips and United took the lead from the ensuing corner thanks to a well-worked move. Christian Eriksen played the ball short to Fernandes, who crossed in. United were lining up, Zirkzee lurking behind De Ligt, who turned in the air to generate the right power for a well-placed header.

Minutes later, Ramsdale saved Rashford's shot at his near post as United moved forward 3-on-3. Sixty seconds later, Rashford fired at the same corner and this time found it, beating Archer on the edge of the area before firing home.

From there, United controlled the tempo. Mazraoui rattled the side-netting early in the second half and Garnacho claimed a strangely routine victory in the final seconds. Dalot latched on to a pass from Casemiro on the byline and laid the ball off for Garnacho to finish.